cognitive neuroscientist / fanatic runner

San Diego Barefoot Running Workshops

I’m thrilled to announce … the first in a series of FREE San Diego Barefoot Running Workshops!

THE MOTIVATION

This past International Barefoot Running Day, the small crew of San Diego barefoot runners gathered to share our love for natural running. This was my third consecutive year celebrating #IBRD and each year I come away with a renewed appreciation for the barefoot running community and new insights into how to maximally reap the benefits of the practice. Each of us have come from distinct backgrounds, have traversed unique paths and have made our own discoveries along the way, but we’ve all arrived at the same conclusion … Barefoot running is the way for us. For several months I’ve been toying with the idea of how best to share the lessons I’ve garnered from barefoot running with others in the hopes that they too may experience similar joy and growth. Reuniting with other barefooters last weekend reaffirmed the conviction that sharing these experiences and supporting others in their barefoot journeys is a worthy endeavor. As such, I’d like to invite you to participate in my San Diego Barefoot Running Workshop Series. These workshops are crafted with the novice barefooter in mind, but will ideally also serve as a welcoming environment for all – even lifelong barefooters – to nurture their evolution as strong, healthy, empowered runners.

WORKSHOP FORMAT AND AIMS

This first (beta-series, if you will) of workshops will comprise three meet-ups, each session focusing on a unique aspect of barefoot-running form, training and lifestyle. Each session will involve discussion and drills, and will conclude with a short fun-run to put into practice what we’ve learned. These runs will be designed to develop technique, rather than speed or endurance, so they will be short, easy and appropriate for runners of all levels. The workshops will be spaced apart (between two to four weeks) to allow runners sufficient time between sessions to incorporate lessons into their training. They will be casual, interactive and collaborative, with the hope that all participants will share their knowledge and experiences, and continue to learn from one another. The ultimate aim is to re-discover the pure, basic joy of running, by reinforcing natural movement patterns, learning safe training practices and increasing awareness of our bodies and environment.

Workshop #1 will take place Sunday, May 31 at 3 pm in Balboa Park.

We’ll meet at the Founder’s statue at the northwest corner of Balboa and El Prado. Please wear comfortable clothing (but leave your shoes at home!) and bring any hydration or supplies that you’d like. We’ll schedule the time, frequency and location of future workshops based on feedback from this first session. If you have suggestions for topics you’d like covered or how these workshops should be organized, please comment below. If you plan to attend (which I hope you do!) please RSVP at the Facebook event page, and please pass this along to other runners or barefoot enthusiasts. I’m looking forward to sharing the joys of barefoot running with you!

4 thoughts on “San Diego Barefoot Running Workshops”

Hi Jim, I’m so glad you’re interested! I’m planning to hold a series of 5 workshops, each building off the earlier ones. We’ll do recaps of what we covered before, so it won’t matter if you miss any. There will definitely be one in June, so stay tuned!